They follow in the footsteps of defender Fabian Grant, who made his Premier League debut at rightback on Sunday last against Tivoli Gardens FC, and midfielder Jeremy Verley who were selected last year.
Well done boys!
Photo (above): Coaches of the Digicel Kickstart Clinic David Monk (2nd left), Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore (centre) and Max Fouracre stand proudly with the top performers (from left) Alain Skerritt, Payge Sinclair, Maliek Howell and Akeem Robotham.
FOLLOWING two intense days of professional training with the coaches from the Chelsea FC Foundation, the top three performers in the Digicel Kickstart Clinic were selected to attend the international Kickstart Academy, which will take place in October in England.
The successful trio are 16-year-old Akeem Robotham from St George’s College and Jamaica College’s 16-year-old Maliek Howell and 15-year-old Payge Sinclair.
“We’re really happy with the boys that we’ve selected this year, they performed really well,” said David Monk, head coach of the clinic and senior international development officer at the Chelsea FC Foundation.
“Even though Akeem tried out last year and didn’t make it, he came back this year in much better form and did really well. Maliek is very fast and gifted technically, while Payge can play in just about any position and has a great personality,” Monk said of the boys.
The Cheslea official added: “Coming after the likes of Cadeine Graham, who represented Jamaica and was chosen as MVP of the Academy in his year, these boys have big shoes to fill. But I’m sure they will be very competitive and represent well.”
Robotham, meantime, could not hide his joy at being selected in the chosen few.
“I’m very happy that I was chosen as one of the boys to attend the Academy. I want to play professional football one day too, so it was really an honour to train with David Monk and Max Fouracre from Chelsea, and I’m really looking forward to the next step,” he said.
Sinclair said he was extremely excited at the opportunity.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be at the Clinic, but when I got the chance, I knew I had to make the most of it,” he said “It was a great clinic and I’m just looking forward to representing my school and my country and show the world what I’m made of.”
Meanwhile, Howell said that the clinic was a great opportunity for all the boys, most of whom were aspiring to become professional footballers.
“In just two days, we learnt so much about concentration, focus, kicking techniques, off-the-ball movement and most importantly, discipline. This is the kind of training that the professional players get, and for us to be exposed to that is a great opportunity.”
Sixteen-year-old Alain Skerritt was also chosen as the wild card from the clinic and will get the opportunity to vie for one of three additional spots at the Academy by inviting fans to vote for him via the Digicel Jamaica social media platforms.
The international Kickstart Academy will take place in October this year and will see 30 boys from the Caribbean region training with coaches from top European football clubs.
Source: The Jamaica Observer